Once in a blue moon

Aseem was very excited. He rang the bell. It was midnight of 14th

February. He was posted in Vishakhapatnam. After 2 years, transfer 

would be due and he would come back to Delhi. The thought of giving 

a surprise to his wife on Valentine’s day was thrilling. His wife loved 

surprises but he believed in planning and organizing. So, there was no 

surprise element in his behavior. He eagerly waited for the door to 

open. He rang the bell thrice before he heard movement inside.

“ Who is there?” his wife’s sleepy voice came.

No answer. 

“Is anybody there?”

He did not answer but rang the bell.

“Sorry, I will not open the door unless you give your identity.”

He again rang the bell.

“Now, if you don’t give your identity and ring the bell again, I will call 

the police.” 

It was better not to involve the police in this surprise. 

“Its me dear,” I said.

“ Who, me?”

“Aseem, Pammi dear.”

“ No mimicry please. Tell me who you are?”

“ Check my location on your mobile.”

In two minutes Pammi opened the door and screamed with surprise, 

“ Oh my God. I just can't believe it that you’ve actually come home. 

Happy Valentine’s Day dear.”

“ That was my line but you spoiled all my surprise . I was so excited.

“ I can understand but you see how could I open the door at midnight 

with two little kids only in the house. I have to think of everyone’s 

safety.” Pammi explained.

“ Ok. You win.”

“ Do you want to eat or drink something?”

“ No. I am tired and want to sleep.”

“ I'll make your favorite dishes tomorrow to make your day special. 

You made my day by coming here. Now it’s my turn.”

Aseem spent two days with his family and came back to 

Vishakhapatnam. He had rented a single room set as he was on job all 

the day and most of the weekends he spent with his family or friends. 

His flat was used just to house his personal items.

When he joined back his office, he came to know that his boss was on 

leave because he was not well. Two days later it was confirmed that 

his boss was corona positive. The whole building was sanitized and all 

the employees were instructed to take special care and follow all 

protocols related to this disease.

Days passed by. He was working on a project and was very busy. Boss 

was not there so he became the officiating head. For almost a month 

he could not go back to Delhi. He booked air tickets for 27th March and 

kept packing all the things he would not need and could drop them 

back home. He planned to take back most of the winter wear and bring 

back summer wear.

Then one day Prime Minister Modi announced a complete lockdown 

on 22nd March. There were a few cases of corona in the country and Modi wanted to destroy the virus by breaking the chain. Only 

essential items were available at a fixed time. No one was allowed to 

go out of his house. Absolute silence prevailed. Aseem felt relaxed. 

Office work had kept him very busy. He slept the whole day. He 

planned his Delhi visit. He had a long talk with his wife and children. 

They even enjoyed a video call. The schools of his children had closed 

down for a week. The children were happy to be at home. As a treat 

their father came on video call. Both, Ronny and Princy, were excited 

to tell him about their school and why it closed down. Then they

recited their poems and made him laugh at jokes. The lockdown day 

became a sweet memory for him. 

Next day all the employees came back to work. Cases of corona were 

increasing. People got frightful information through social media and 

WhatsApp. No one understood what was happening. All were in a 

hurry to go back in the safety of their home. People said that the 

infection symptoms were of common cold. How could cold become 

deadly? There was no other topic of conversation. People started 

hoarding groceries and vegetables. What would they do if Modi again 

announced a lockdown. 

On 24th evening PM Modi announced a ccomplete lockdown. All flights, 

trains, metros, buses, ceased to operate. All factories, offices, 

markets, cinema halls, coaching centers were shut down. No 

movement was allowed. Only people involved in essential services, 

sanitary workers, health workers and news will be allowed to move 

about. Markets will operate only for essentials. All had to stay where 

they were.

Aseem was shocked. He lived in a small room alone. What will he do? 

He could not go back. There were no flights and trains. He could not 

go out anywhere. Thank God he could cook. He just hoped the 

lockdown would not be extended and he would soon go back home.

He got up in the morning. It was 6.30 am. He remembered there was 

no office. He lay down lazily and fell asleep. It was 11.00 am when he 

opened his eyes. He got up, switched on the television and tuned to 

the news channel. The whole day he felt lethargic. Frequently he fell 

asleep. Whenever he got up he thought what date it was.

The TV channels started popular and interesting mythological serials

four hours a day and Aseem did not miss any. He had no fixed time of 

sleeping or eating. He had always wanted to watch so many serials 

and movies. He could never spare the time. Now he was free. No office 

work to do. Back to back he watched movies and serials. There was no 

other work to do. He contacted his family anytime of the day. For a 

few days he was happy with this life. It was a blessing in disguise for 

him. He enjoyed everyday. His activities included sleeping, watching 

TV, eating, his elder talking to his family and The only problem was 

that he missed the count of dates. He just couldn’t remember what 

date it was.

When Aseem got tired of watching TV he switched to reading. One by 

one he read all the books available with him. He also read all the 

newspapers he had in his house. While reading the newspaper Aseem 

imagined that it was that day's newspaper. He looked at the old 

newspaper and wondered why the news in the newspaper and the TV 

was different. He looked at the date and tried to recall the present 

day’s date. How old was the newspaper? Everything seemed to be 

confusing. All twenty four hours the same news of people dying due 

to corona, no beds in the hospitals, no place available cremation 

ground and several places have been isolated for corona patients.

The news was really depressing for a man who was staying away from 

his family. He just couldn’t remember current dates. He had to check 

his mobile. Then he started crossing out each date as it passed. He 

thought now he would remember dates. But he forgot to cross out 

dates regularly and again got confused. He had never thought that 

remembering dates was such a big deal.

Now he understood the benefit of a regular daily routine. The 

sequence of events help us remember dates. Our daily routine tells us 

what time of the day it is. If the daily routine is disturbed, the whole 

life of a person is affected. No one could ever imagine that the entire 

population of the world would come to a standstill due to this 

pandemic. This was a situation beyond the imagination of anyone. 

People had to stay away from all others to be healthy. All the people 

took pills regularly to increase their immunity. Hand wash and 

sanitizers disappeared from the market. Then masks became 

mandatory.

Aseem was lost in his own house. Dates confused him. He felt hot. He 

needed shorts and T shirts. All he had were woolen pajamas and full 

sleeves shirts. Why he couldn’t find his summer wear he couldn’t 

understand. He asked his wife the reason. She replied that he had 

come home only in winter. He needed to come home to collect his 

summer wear. He tried to find out how many days were summer to 

be over. He couldn’t count.

The government started removing restrictions and trains started. 

Aseem booked his seat and came home. It took fifteen days for him to 

completely recover from loneliness and become normal.